Only Hope
by jenniepennie
Summary: At age 25 Elena is happily engaged to the man of her dreams. Until his brother she hasn't seen in ten years makes an appearance. Then her world comes crashing down when she realizes that everything she knew isn't what it seems. Damon may be her only hope. - Please read and review! :)
1. Engagement

**Summary: At age 25 Elena is happily engaged to the man of her dreams. Until his brother she hasn't seen in ten years makes an appearance. Then her world comes crashing down when she realizes that everything she knew isn't what it seems. Damon may be her only hope.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Everything belongs to their rightful owners.**

**A/N: This is actually a really old fic of mine based on 'Buffy' that was an unfinished fic. Every time I read it over and over again it just clicked that this would be a perfect story for Damon and Elena so I hope you all enjoy! I obviously changed a lot around, but please review and let me know what you think! **** Also big thank you to ****Aurora rose1001 (Mia) For beta-ing this for me! You rock!**

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Chapter 1 – Engagement

Elena Gilbert walked out her mother's gallery, the Gilbert's Fine Arts and Artifacts, and skipped happily to her car. She knew tonight was the night. The previous evening, her boyfriend, Stefan, had told her he wanted to take her to one of LA's finest restaurants and for her to dress in style. Elena navigated the well-known streets to her house, her thoughts careening around in her head. After she parked in front of her house, she ran inside as fast as she could and began getting ready.

Thirty minutes later, Elena stood in front of her mirror and carefully applied her lipstick. She puckered her cherry colored lips and smiled happily to herself. She just knew Stefan was going to love what she was wearing. She had gone on a shopping spree the day before with her best friend Caroline and found a gorgeous black silk dress that dropped to her knees and showed off her shapely legs. With its plunging neckline that showed off the curve of her breasts she knew she had to buy it.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Elena quickly looked herself over one more time then rushed down the stairs.

When she opened the door a pair of brown doe eyes met hazel. Elena gasped when she saw her boyfriend dressed sharply in black slacks and a gray silk shirt. He looked absolutely gorgeous. His brown locks were slicked back and he had an impish grin on his face.

Stefan smiled widely, gazing at Elena up and down before pulling her in for a quick peck on the lips.

"C'mon beautiful lets go, or we're going to be late."

After the dinner – which was wonderful – they decided to go for a stroll on the beach. They walked for a few minutes before they came upon a secluded section of the beach and Elena gasped when she saw the sight before her. Displayed in front of her was a red checkered blanket sprawled across the sand with champagne flute glasses and a bottle of champagne in a little cooler. Next to that was a small basket of food and a radio playing romantic melodies.

Elena looked up at Stefan with a goofy smile on her face. "You planned this," she whispered, still in shock.

Stefan just smiled and pulled her down onto the blanket. Elena settled herself in front of him and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. She kissed him underneath his jawline and inhaled his scent. She was going to make sure that whatever happens, this night stays imbedded in her memories.

"Elena I want to ask you something."

Elena's heart skipped a beat and began pounding in her chest. She looked up at Stefan and nodded softly.

"I know things haven't been easy for you lately with your parent's death and all…"

Elena got a glazed look in her eyes at the mention of her parent's. They had died over a year ago from a terrible car accident that claimed their lives.

"…but we have been together longer than I can remember." Stefan turned Elena around so that he was looking deeply into her eyes. His love for her so evident in the way he was gazing at her, "I love you more than anything in this world…" He stumbled a bit on his words obviously nervous with what he was trying to tell her. Elena nodded in encouragement and he continued. "Elena, what I am trying to say is, will you marry me?"

Elena felt tears well up in her eyes and she happily gathered the nervous man before her in a tight embrace then pulled away to kiss him passionately.

"I guess that's a yes?" He asked breaking the kiss.

With happy tears streaming down her face Elena nodded. "Yes, I love you so much!"

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It had been two months since the night Stefan proposed. Elena stared happily at her princess cut platinum diamond ring. They decided they would hold off on the wedding for a year to give them both plenty of time to plan, for they were both busy with their careers at the moment. Elena was the sole owner of her parent's gallery. She was immensely grateful for her friends, Caroline and Bonnie, who both worked with her and helped out immensely. Stefan was now living with her as well and she was thankful for that. She hated being in this house all by herself.

Elena was in the kitchen of her house when the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock… 7:30am. Who could be here so early? She wondered. She wiped off her hands and shut down the stove, so her bacon and eggs wouldn't burn.

When she opened the door all she could do was stare. Before her stood the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He had raven locks that flowed down in waves across his forehead. Chiseled cheekbones and soft full lips that Elena decided would be worth taking around for a taste test. Then his eyes… Elena thought she could lose herself forever in this all too familiar blue orbs. _Oh my god! Elena what are you thinking? You don't even know the man – and you're engaged! Must remember you are engaged… wait a minute why does he seem so familiar?_

The man smirked at the woman before him, all too aware on how she was studying him. He thought she wasn't too bad herself.

"Hi." Elena stumbled. _Way to go Elena, make a complete idiot of yourself._

"Hey gorgeous, I'm looking for Stefan Salvatore."

Elena blushed and then she instantly recognized his voice and broke out in a wide grin.

"Damon? Oh my god! How are you?" She grabbed him in a tight hug then pulled away, and blushed a slight pink because of her earlier ogling him. She smirked when she looked up to find his confused expression.

"Elena?" he asked squinting. _Wow, she really grew up to be a beautiful woman, _he thought.

Elena playfully punched him in the arm for his playful squinting and invited him in.

"Still wearing your same old signature clothes I see." She smirked as his eyes grew wide and looked down at his outfit. Black fitted jeans, black fitted t-shirt. He honestly didn't find anything wrong with his choice of clothes. Before he could make a comment, Elena spoke.

"So how've you been? What are you up too?"

"Well me and the dear old man finally came to blows and I quit the company," he said not feeling one bit sad at his choice. He lived in New York where he worked for his father for Salvatore Corps. He never blamed his brother for not wanting to work for the bastard. They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. " Elena said sadly, even though she knew Damon despised his father.

"Yea…"he said, then looked up into her brown doe eyes, "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you parent's passed… I know how it feels." Even though his father was alive, Damon knew what it was like to lose a parent. Especially a mother.

Elena nodded her head and looked away, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. Before she could say anything Stefan walked into the room, freshly showered and shaved.

"Hey sweetie, who's here?" Stefan asked, and then spotted the raven locks. "Damon is that you?" He grabbed his brother into a hug and patted him on the back.

"Your still a softy." Damon said with a wide smile.

"And you still look like a wanna-be vampire." Stefan shot back. Damon smirked at that.

"Hey, I'm sorry about what went down with you and the old man." Stefan said sincerely. "Is that why you're back in LA?"

"Yeah, I can't seem to get a decent job. I swear that bastard is doing this to me." Damon mumbled angrily.

Elena, who had been listening to the exchange the whole time, finally spoke up.

"I know! I could use some help at the gallery; a lot of help. I could really use some help with paper work and all that fun stuff you can work there… that is, if you want?" Elena offered with a huge grin on her face.

"You mean work for you?" Damon contemplated about it for a few seconds. "Okay 'Lena, it's a deal." They shook hands in agreement.

Elena smiled and looked Damon up and down. "There's one condition..."

Damon raised an eyebrow, waiting for the "condition."

"You can't wear that." Elena smirked at his expression, causing Damon too look down at himself with a confused look on his face and a snickering Stefan.

"Why the hell not?" he asked with a make-believe hurt expression.

Stefan clapped him on the back, "Well, you can always borrow my clothes for now."

Damon looked at him and burst into a fit of laughter, an amused Elena watching them.

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_See your face every place that I walk in  
Hear your voice every time I am talking  
You will believe in me  
And I will never be ignored_

_I will burn for you_  
_Feel pain for you_  
_I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart_  
_I'll tear it apart_

A month flew by, and Elena was becoming more accustomed to the events in her household. Damon now worked for her full-time and she had to admit that he was a good worker, he sold more paintings and artifacts then she ever did when she first started working at the gallery. Elena was shocked of his knowledge of the many rare artifacts on showcase. When Elena asked him where he learned everything from, he just shrugged his shoulders and winked at her.

Elena hated not getting a straight answer, but dealt with it anyway. It was now three o'clock in the afternoon and Elena was exhausted from the day's work. She told Caroline and Bonnie she was closing early and for them to go home. She went into the back of the gallery and settled into her office when her cell phone rang.

"Hello," an exhausted voice murmured into the phone. "Hey Stefan, yes everything is still on for tonight… no they don't have a clue… yes I will… okay sweetie I just have to wrap a few things up and I will be home to fix everything, k? Alright…love you too." Elena clicked her phone off and leaned into the chair.

"Hello cutie."

Elena shrieked and jumped out of her seat. "Damn, Damon don't you ever knock?" She said obviously annoyed her heart pounding in her chest. Damon rolled his eyes at her and smirked settling himself into her chair. He lifted his feet and threw them on top of her desk. Elena swung his feet off and muttered angrily.

"I am having a bad day right now and I don't need you adding into it!" She glared at him.

Damon was a little taken aback at her outburst. "Sorry, didn't realize you were in such a pissy mood." He noticed she was still glaring while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Something wrong 'Lena?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah I got the worst crick in my neck." She continued to rub her sore spot. Before she knew what was happening, Damon jumped out of the chair and pushed her into it. His gentle hands began rubbing her sore spot. Elena tried to protest but all she could muster was some incoherent muttering. _God his hands feel so good, I don't want him to stop. God Elena what are you thinking! _Elena immediately jumped away from his ministrations.

Damon was confused for a second and looked at her flustered form.

"I'm sorry if I did something wrong," he said still confused.

"No, it's not you!" She saw Damon flinch not realizing she had yelled. She blushed under his intensive gaze. He walked up to her like a tiger trying to catch its prey. Elena's heart pounded in her chest. _What is he doing? What is he doing!_

Damon saw how nervous she was getting and backed away. Elena sighed in relief.

"Elena, do you remember when I left for New York?" Damon asked inching a little closer to her.

Elena remembered. She was thirteen and he was sixteen, and they both had insane crushes on one another but never did anything about it. She always figured it was because she was young so she never dwelled on it. And before long she ended up falling in love with his younger brother. That was also when Giuseppe, their father, decided to send Damon to New York to a boarding school, cause Damon was wreaking havoc then.

"Yeah I remember, why?" Elena asked trying to keep her voice steady, but failing.

"Remember I wanted to tell you something but never got the chance?" He asked looking intently into her eyes.

Elena just simply nodded wondering where he was going with this.

"What I wanted to say was that… I was hoping whenever I came back… um… That there might be a chance for us," he slowly said and looked away from her confused and bewildered expression. _What the hell! Whatcha go and say that for you idiot!_

"Oh my god! Damon, why are you doing this now of all times?" Elena flung her arms around, muttering angrily.

Damon grabbed a hold of her hands. Elena tried to pull away and was forced to look into his eyes.

"Elena I was hoping…"

Elena finished his sentence for him. "That we could be together," she mumbled.

"Exactly, it's almost like you're reading my mind." He smiled softly.

Elena pulled out of his grasp. _What an asshole! I can't believe this! _He knows she is engaged to his brother what the heck is wrong with him? Stefan would kick him out in a heartbeat if he knew about this!

"Well why don't you read mine?" She looked at him sternly and put her jacket on and brushed past him.

He grabbed her arm before she could leave her office and turned her to face him. "I can't just be your friend."

Elena pulled out of his grasp and glared at him defiantly.

"I will see you at home, and if you ever and I mean ever bring this up again I won't think twice about telling Stefan," she said through clenched teeth.

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**Please review to let me know what you think! Also there will be flashbacks to when they were younger, but it won't be till a couple more chapters!**


	2. Revelations

**I am so so sorry for anyone who is/was following this. I had this chapter ready to go for so long now and when my beta didn't get back to me after almost a month I am posting it for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It is not beta so any mistakes I apologize for ahead of time **

**Hate it? Love it? Please Review!**

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Chapter 2 – Revelations

It's been a week since Damon tried to pull his little stunt. Plus he has been ignoring Elena and Stefan, either staying holed up in his room or at the gallery where he tried to avoid her at all costs. That pissed Elena off more than anything. Even though it shouldn't. She just wanted to be his friend. She is in love with Stefan for god sakes! Why she is letting him get under her skin is beyond her at this point. So much has been going on since that night. When they got home from dinner all hell broke loose. The hell that broke loose caused a strain on her and Stefan's relationship that she thought would never happen.

_Flashback 6 days earlier_

_Elena shuffled into the house slamming her purse down on the night stand near the door and went to shut the living room door, almost slamming it into Damon's face. She glared at him angrily and stomped up the stairs._

"_Elena your home…" Stefan watched her retreating form a confused expression on his face._

_Damon looked at his baby brother and smirked, "Maybe it's that time of month."_

"_Ugh, Damon," Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother and went up the stairs after his fiancé._

_She was in their bedroom tugging her skirt off when Stefan walked in the room. Seeing the concern evident on his face Elena held her hand up to stop him from coming any closer, "Stefan not right now, we need to get ready for dinner, so please let's just do what we had planned, please…" she quietly begged him for understanding. He nodded his head and walked downstairs._

_Two hours later, Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, Damon and Elena were sitting at the dining room table. The tension in the room was unbearable for Elena. The whole dinner she caught Damon sending longing glances her way. Stefan was being as nice as he could be but he knew something was up._

"_We're moving!" Elena suddenly blurted, six pairs of eyes were on her in surprise._

"_What…" Caroline._

"_Why…"Bonnie._

"_How come no one told me this?" Damon looked at Stefan and Elena shocked at this revelation._

"_Well that's why we had everyone over to tell you guys first. I got promoted to partner in the firm and they have a position opened for me in their Seattle office, me and Elena discussed it and we both agreed." Stefan shrugged like it was no big deal. He didn't notice how Elena kept avoiding Damon's eyes._

"_And since Damon is so good with working at the Gallery I was going to leave it to you three." Elena said softly, still avoiding Damon._

"_Wow Elena, are you sure?" Asked Bonnie. Caroline jumped out of her chair in excitement, "Of course she's sure Bonnie! I am so excited I can't wait." Caroline clapped her hands together excitedly._

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And now here was Elena working through the final paperwork in her office. She sighed and groaned rubbing the back of her neck. She hoped beyond hope that she was making the right decision in leaving. Part of her said she was because that meant she left Damon behind. Damon stirred up feelings in her that she didn't even know she had. They were planning on leaving in the upcoming week if everything goes according to plan.

"Elena… can we talk?" asked Damon who was standing hesitantly at the door.

Elena sighed wearily, "Sure come on in." She nodded to the seat in front of her. She added an extra chair in the office after last week's incident.

"I wanted to apologize, I overstepped boundaries and for that I'm sorry." He said honestly.

Elena was surprised at that. The last thing she expected was for him to apologize.

"Well just make sure it never happens again." She said firmly still shocked. He nodded his head and stood up too leave.

"You know it's going to be sad to see you two go. Despite what you might think I do love my brother." With that said he walked out the office leaving a confused Elena staring after him.

That night Elena went home and was disappointed to find that Stefan wasn't home. She checked her voicemail to find she had a message, with phone to her ear she listened to the message while walking up the stairs.

"Hey baby it's me, I got held up and the office might be home late. Love ya." And that was all that Stefan said. Oh well, she thought. It was a rare occasion that something like this happened so she couldn't be mad. As she turned the corner she bumped into Damon which caused her to shriek in surprise.

"You look…uh…" Elena stumbled on her words.

Damon smirked, "Dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?"

Elena rolled her eyes and poked him in his chest. "Wrecked… you look wrecked."

Damon shrugged his shoulders and stumbled down the stairs. "Should be no surprise there. I always loved getting 'wrecked' as you call it." He made his way to the liqueur cabinet and poured himself a glass of amber liquid. He sniffed it before taking a sip, "Ahh and bourbon, love my precious bourbon." He flopped down on the couch and moments later Elena heard his loud snoring drifting up the stairs into her room.

Go figure. Stefan leaves her alone for one night and she's stuck in the house with a drunk. She was sitting in her bed whilst writing in her diary. When she was done she placed it gently in the drawer on the nightstand. Getting ready to turn the night lamp off she noticed the time on her alarm clock. 2am! Where was Stefan and what was he doing? She felt panic swell in her chest. Grabbing her phone she dialed Stefan's number only to be greeted by his voicemail. She ran her hands nervously through her brown locks. Where could he be? Then it hit her. Stefan still kept his apartment around the corner of his office in case there were some nights he couldn't drive home due to exhaustion.

Changing out her pajamas into jeans and a sweatshirt she walked quietly down the stairs to not disturb a sleeping Damon. She shut the door softly and ventured out into the night.

It was a forty-five minute drive to Stefan's apartment. She stopped by a 24/7 gas station to fuel up on some coffee. After paying the clerk she settled back into the driver's seat and turned the radio on.

Singing along to her favorite musicians on the radio, before she knew it she was in front of Stefan's apartment. She sighed in relief when she noticed a glow coming out of what use to be his bedroom. Good maybe that meant he was still awake, she thought. Maybe his phone died and he needed to charge it and that's why he couldn't call her.

She walked up the stairs to Stefan's apartment and knocked quietly on the door. A couple seconds later the door swung wide open. The other person smirked at her and all Elena could do was gasp. There stood a female so familiar, wearing nothing but a white sheet wrapped around her.

"Katherine."

Elena possessing strength she didn't even know she had, grabbed Katherine by her throat and slammed her into the door.

"You…" Elena said furiously, "love just taking what I have don't you, you spiteful bitch," she spat in her face, not caring that the white sheet Katherine had around her was falling off her naked form.

Katherine huffed and glared back at her, "Maybe you forget who had both Salvatore brother's first."

Elena raised her fist releasing her hold on Katherine's neck. Before her fist could collide in this wretched vile woman's face, two pairs of hands pulled her away. Spinning around to see who would dare stop her, she was faced with Stefan.

"Elena don't…" Stefan pleaded.

"Seriously? You're sticking up for her!" She pointed at Katherine who just continued to smirk at her. She pushed past Stefan. It was getting too stuffy in here, she had to leave.

"Elena wait!" Stefan ran after her despite Katherine's protests.

"What?" She spun around on her heels glaring at him.

"I can explain…" Elena didn't give him a chance to finish. She smacked him across his cheek with all the strength she could muster and then kneed him in his groin. He groaned from the pain and landed on his knees staring after her while she hurriedly got in her car and sped away.

She parked in front of her house, heart pounding in her chest. Not wanting to talk to Stefan she texted him quickly.

_**Tomorrow when I am at work get ur stuff out of my house. ~ E**_

Sighing she placed her phone in her pocket and walked into the house. Not realizing that it was now 4am she slammed the door shut waking a sleeping Damon from the couch. Damon jumped up and looked around in fright and visibly relaxed when he saw it was Elena.

"Elena…"

"Damon…" Before she knew it she ran into his arms and began crying hysterically. Damon didn't say a word he just stood there holding her tightly and rubbed her back soothingly. He vowed right then and there that whoever hurt her was going to pay.

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